Victorino back, Mayberry Down

Center fielder Shane Victorino has completed his rehabilitation assignment and was activated from the 15-day disabled list, the Phillies announced today. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, outfielder John Mayberry Jr. was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Victorino, 30, originally left the game on May 14 in Atlanta in the bottom of the eighth inning with right hamstring soreness and was placed on the disabled list on May 20 (retroactive to May 19) with a right hamstring strain. While on his rehabilitation assignment he played in two games each for double-A Reading and single-A Lakewood, going 2-for-13 with a home run and four RBI.

Mayberry, who made his first Opening Day roster, batted .231 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 45 games. The 27-year-old made 23 total starts, including the last 13 games in a row.

Tough to swallow for Mayberry, who hadn’t been swinging the bat well, but had been playing awesome defense in center in the absence of Victorino. He will be back soon.

Apparently, the Phillies are in love with a Rule 5 kid with no experience above Double-A that really shouldn’t even be in the majors. That is Michael Martinez. And that’s no knock on Martinez, he seems like a hard working utility guy, but they just don’t have room for him right now. It really makes no sense. They have the same guy in Pete Orr in Triple-A. Odd choices being made here, but the silver lining is, they are getting healthy.

Doh! Even though we knew this move was coming it still irks. Do they really think any team, Nats included, would take Martinez if we sent him down? If we win th WC this year it will be in spite of management not because of it.

This is tragic and stupid. They could have DLed Gload, and got rid of Martinez., Keep Mayberry and bring back Orr. You still have the LH bat with Orr and you have your 2nd best defensive OFer in Mayberry.

Martinez is a AA hitter at best. Gload is hurt and can’t play in the field.

I am reading all these comments and can’t believe that noone has even considered outright releasing Ben Francisco and keeping Mayberry here… Then when Gload is put on the DL they can bring back Orr and hang onto Martinez ….. Francisco’s bat is no better than Mayberry … His defense is adequat and his arm is no better than a 12 year olds …. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dump Francisco

It has been a long time since I agreed with most if not all poster on here. But this is just stupid. Mayberry can play all three outfield positions as good if not better then the starters we have out there now. He has shown an ability to come off the bench cold and get some cutch hits as a PH. I am not saying he should be a starter but to send him down just is not right. I would rather him then Brown who still needs a lot of work defensivly. And has shown in the past not to be great PH which he will be most of the time. He is the one that needs consistant AB more then Mayberry. And do not get me started on Martenez, he is a pitch runner best, a bad defensive outfielder. Do you really need two weak hitting back up infielders? I usually trust the managment and have faith in what they are doing, but I do not get this move and I do not like it

It makes even less sense when you realize that every single game we will start with 1 or 2 “below-average” outfielders –either Raul or Francisco, or both when Brown sits (from what I’ve seen from Brown so far, he’s average at this point). So Mayberry would always be a great, late-inning, defensive replacement for those close games when we’re leading by a run or two (aka the typical 2011 Phillie game).

CHUCK – I agree with you my friend and respected poster. BenFran is not a starter in the major leagues and he is also not that good defensively. In fact, he is barely adequate. I like Mayberry better that BenFran AND, unless I’m wrong, BenFran has an option left. I hate this move in every way. If BenFran keeps playing he is going to kill any trade value he may have as a throw in.

As I see it the issue is how many utility infielders you need. Usually you can get away with one. We have that in Valdez, he can play all three positions, can’t hit but that is not unusual with a utility infielder. So why do we need two now? I think that Amaro/Manuel are thinking that they have three individuals who they cannot assume will be healthy (Utley, Polanco, Rollins). By definition Utley will not play every day. So Valdez will be playing one or two days a week at 2nd base. So obviously they are concerned that Polanco and Rollins will also go down.

Martinez is more versatile than Orr so IF you accept that you need two utility infielders this makes sense. For me I don’t see the same level of risk. If someone goes down they can call up someone to fill in. I would have preferred to risk losing Martinez and keep another bat on the bench.

Nothing here is irreversible and Mayberry has not shown that much to date.

Utley’s BABIP will not stay at .179, although it would be fair to note that his line drive rate is in the toilet right now at 10%. I doubt that will stay low either though. He’s only had 39 PA coming off of an injury. Just give him some time.

While Mayberry has shown he can play an adequate OF position, he STILL lacks consistency with the bat. He was given the opportunity to play regularly during the month of May while filling in for Victorino. However, to the disappointment of Phillies management, Mayberry hit just .194 in 17 starts in May. Apparently, the Phillies saw something in Martinez to want to keep him. He is young and has raw talents that will later be refined in the minors next season. He is versatile on dsefense playing both infield and OF positions. He has speed and a good arm. The question that remain to be answered obviously, is will he be able hit consistently. We don’t know since he has so few ABs in the majors.

The Phillies thinking may be to protect Martinez and do see the need for TWO all purpose utility infielders (including Valdez Wilson) when considering their cautious approach in using Utley, and periodic rests to Rollins and Polanco. Plus, Gload is unable to play defensely. I don’t understand the complaints on Francisco, a veteran with a proven track record of offensive production. The Phillies will need his Righthanded bat when he has one of those hot streaks he so often displayed in his career. Obviously, Charlie Manuel intends to platoon Brown and Francisco against righty/lefty pitching. When Brown can show that he can hit against all types of pitching, then that scenario will change.

Martinez is 28, he’s not young. He can’t hit either, he’s just bad. Most of these Rule 5 guys are Rule 5 eligible for a reason: they’ve hung around as organizational filler and didn’t even merit a spot on the 40 man roster.